Lost Nightmare

Had this stuck in my head and really wanted to get it out, just a short one-fic about Mikey having a nightmare and his brother comforting him. Enjoy!

It was the innocent, quiet voice of Michelangelo that awoke him, the thunder and lightning only made the young terrapin jump up into a sitting position on his bed.

"Raphie?" Raphael, nearing the age of seven looked to his younger brother to see him tightly squeezing a teddy bear, tears glistening in his eyes. Raph couldn't hear him whimpering, but knew that it was drowned out by the growing sounds above them. "I," Mikey swiveled his foot in the ground and looked down, embarrassed by his fear. "I'm scared." It was common the younger brother went to his brothers rooms when he was scared, thankfully it mostly only happened when the bigger storms were brewing outside. "I had a nightmare."

Raphael sat up more, that was a new one, usually he didn't have nightmares; he'd gotten out of that stage a couple years ago, now it was an extremely rare occurrence.

"C-can I please sleep with you"

"Why don't you go to father?" Raph asked, the shock gone and the annoyance of being awoke in the middle of the night now creeping up on him.

"I did, he didn't wake up. . ." Mikey's voice drifted off and was replaced with a billowing thunder. His brother head fell, but his eyes peered up as he spoke, "Please." It came out barely a whisper, but Raph knew it was important to his brother. Raph contemplated on the thought, he liked to sleep alone, but seeing that it didn't happen often-

"Alright," Raphael finally said, draping up his covers as a welcome in gesture towards his younger brother. "But just tonight." Michelangelo smiled and shuffled to his brothers bed before setting his bear down and crawling in. Mikey turned to face his brothers plastron and cuddled close, the bear giving them some space between.

Raph sighed and hugged his brother, knowing it would comfort him.

"What was the nightmare about?" He finally asked, truly not wanting to hear some crazy story about fake monsters and crazed robots.

"I-I lost you all." Raph perked up at the words.

"You what?"

"I lost all of you. . . Leo, Donnie, Daddy, You. . ." Again his words drifted off. "I was scared, it was all black and fire surrounded me. I called out to you guys but no one answered, I was alone. Then these things came after me and I tried running, but I was stuck in place by something. . ."

Raph sensed the tension in his brother as he gripped the bear harder, his fists pushing against Raphael's plastron. "Who was chasing you?"

"You guys were," Mikey took in a shaky breath and it was then Raphael knew his brother was crying. "Y-you were coming after me, l-laughing at me. You screamed at m-me and told me that I was s-stupid, and you were going to k-kill me because I d-didn't deserve to live." By this time the terrapin had broken down into wailing sobs and Raphael held him tighter, not understanding how his most fun-loving and lighthearted brother could have a this horrific of a nightmare. "A-and then you a-all pulled o-out these things and t-triied to k-kill me." Michelangelo buried his face into both the bear and Raph, trying to find comfort.

"Mikey, I'm so. . . Sorry."

"You all hated me," He coughed, the tears that had found their way into his mouth spraying out. "I wasn't l-loved and I d-didn't want to l-live."

Raph cried himself, he always loved his brother, never would he hate him. Why, why was he having this nightmare?

"And then L-Leo hit me and th-then everything went black again, a-and then it came. . ."

"W-what came?" Raphael asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"The awful pain in my chest. . . Daddy k-k-ki-" Raph quieted his brother before he could finish the word, enough of the dream had been said for him to understand what had upset his brother so much. Thunder boomed from above and sent a shuddering crack sound through their ears, making Michelangelo jumped. Raphael held him much closer until the younger terrapin was firmly held in his arms.

"I'm sorry. . . I love you, Mikey, we all love you. . . You're my brother and you always will be."

"Th-thank you, Raphie. ." Mikey sniffed, a gross snotty sound.

Two figures showed up at the door, smaller ones, showing neither was Master Splinter. One rubbed his eyes and yawned, the other leaning against the door to keep his balance.

"What's wrong?" Leonardo asked with a tired yawn.

Silence filled the air like an unwanted ghost before Raphael broke it with an answer, "Mikey had a nightmare."

"Again? I thought he was over that." Mikey cringed at the accusation and the two others calmed down, seeing that it must've been worse than they thought.

"He told me about it, it was really bad." Raph said. His brothers walked in and sat down near the bed, looking to Mikey to see that was hidden between his brothers plastron and the blanket that covered the bottom half of his head. He shook slightly under the cover and they could sense it was from the aftershock of fear.

"Can we-" Raph nodded before Donnie could finish his sentence and the two crawled onto the small bed that miraculously fit them all comfortably.

"I'm sorry, Mikey." Leo said, reaching over Raph and setting a hand on his brothers shoulder. "You don't ever have to fear, we're always here for you, no matter what."

"Ya, Mikey, don't be afraid." Donnie added. "But if you ever want to feel safe, I could make somethin' for you."

"I don't think a machine would solve his nightmare."

"Ya, you're probably right." Donnie shrugged the idea off and looked to his younger brother who had stopped shivering and was now looking at them all. He moved from his spot as Raphael turned over to face his other brothers. The younger terrapin situated himself and as he calmed back down into the warm spot, under the nice comfy blankets, Leonardo hugged him, the eldest feeling his brother was safe in his grip.

Raphael huddled close to Mikey and Donnie cuddled next to Leo, the four comfortably situated under the covers, feeling safe in the grasp of each other. Raphael told his brother of the nightmare and they were stunned, the same questions Raph had, running through their minds.

"We'll always love you and never hate you, Mikey." Leo said in a calm but slightly worried voice, wanting to get his point across. "You're our youngest brother. I mean, ya we joke around with you, but it doesn't mean we hate you."

"I know, Leo. . I don't know why I had the nightmare." Mikey said back, his voice slightly shaky with the dream still fresh in his head. It kept replaying over and over, but was slowly disappearing with the comforting words of his elder brothers.

"Ya, and never will we turn against you, especially, Master Splinter." Donnie stated matter of factly, still he kept his tone kind.

"Thank you, I feel better now." Mikey's head rested against the pillow Raph had given up for him and closed his eyes. The three stayed awake until they heard their youngest brother sleeping soundly, his tears dried up and any sign of a nightmare completely vanished. Finally when it was okay, they rested their heads against the bed and fell into their own sleep, huddling close together.

Master Splinter awoke the next morning, the feeling that the person who had walked into his room last night was not a dream. He shook it off and walked from his bed. Heading out he saw that his sons were not up yet, none of them anywhere to be seen. He checked his youngest's room first, no one; then his eldest, no one; then his second third eldest, still no one. Worry entangled itself into his heart and clenched it with all the force it had. He truly did not want the nightmare of his sons disappearing coming true.

Finally he walked up to Raphael's room and cracked the door open, a calm washing over him. Grinning, he lightly stepped in to see the four turtles huddled close together. Raphael's and Michelangelo's shells facing outwards while Leonardo's and Donatello's shells faced inwards.

He brushed a hand over their heads and nodded to himself, he would allow them to sleep, it seemed that they had, had a tougher night last night falling asleep with the storm.

"I love you my sons. I always will." Mikey stirred then settled down, and when Splinter looked back there was a smile planted on his face that hadn't been there before.

Thanks for reading! Poor Master Splinter though almost had a heart-attack, good thing he looked in Raphael's room. Have a great day/night! And if you like turtle tots, go ahead and check out my story 'Mended Lining'! Until next time!